Allies in Action
The National Physician's Alliance has generated "top 5" lists of common clinical activities where quality of care could be improved and, in an article in the Archives of Internal Medicine, those recommendations were estimated to save the health system $6.76 billion each year if implemented.
US PIRG, an NCHC partner, developed a report detailing the creation and importance of state health insurance exchanges. The report, Building a Better Health Care Marketplace, details the necessary components in a health insurance exchange, including accountability and transparency, stability, innovation in cost and quality, coordination and “consumer and small business friendly.”
According to John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, many small business owners offer health insurance coverage because not only does it hone their competitive edge, but also aids in recruitment of new staff and retaining current employees. This perspective stands in contrast to a recent McKinsey & Co. study, which claimed that there will be a 30 percent decrease in employer-sponsored health insurance due to the passage of the ACA.
On May 12, 2011, O. Marion Burton, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, stated his support for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) amid legal challenges surrounding its requirement that most Americans buy health insurance by 2014.
The National Physicians Alliance and the Archives of Internal Medicine surveyed family and internal medicine doctors about medical tests and treatments that are often performed yet may be unnecessary and contribute to rising health costs.
On May 14, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) released a report indicating that their industry has an average profit margin of only 4.4% and is not a primary driver of rising health costs. Health Care for America NOW (HCAN), a national grassroots organization, strongly disagreed.
According to a report from America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the health plan industry has an average profit margin of only 4.4% and is not a primary driver of rising health costs. The report ranks profit margins throughout the health care sector and the health plan industry ranks 12th out of 16--behind major drug manufacturers (with the highest profit margins at 15.4%), medical instruments and supplies (13.9%), and other drug manufacturers (13.6%).
In an interview on May 4, 2011, Senior VP of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), Dan Hawkins, discussed the growing role of community health centers in the nation's health care system. Twenty-one months after receiving stimulus funding, community health centers have served 3.7 million new patients (1 million more than projected by the Health Resources and Services Administration).
Trust for America's Health, a public health advocacy organization, has sent a letter to Senators opposing passage of H.R. 1, the appropriations bill that would fund the federal government through the end of fiscal year 2011. The bill includes steep cuts to health program funding.
